Slow Recovery Run

I had a difficult time waking up this morning. After having three extra days off of work, your body can get in a rut really quick if you let it. I stumbled out of bed and headed for the basement to don my running clothes. A cool 46F, I figured I would be running slow and pants would be necessary. My quads felt decent, but my right achilles was a bit stiff. I noticed yesterday that those new DS Trainers were rubbing on my achilles, a recipe for disaster! Too bad for me, I just bought $100.00 shoes to mow the lawn. I may try them again, we'll see. My run took me to Rock Hill where I did 2 loops and headed home. At the end of loop 2 things were loosening up nicely and I think I should be OK heading into Tuesdays workout. I will sleep on it and give it a try.
Total: 33:20 4.5 miles wood chip trails.

Weeks Review

A good week in the right direction. For the most part my ankle is pain free. I do have to monitor some tight calves and lately some very sore quads on the longer training runs. I am very happy with the progression of the week. I sat down the other day and had written the next 6 weeks training, in attempt to get "the best bang for my buck" from the 12 week plan of Pfitzingers marathon training. On paper it looks like it should work quite well. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Totals for the Week: 63 miles running + 1 hour of pool running.

Who ya gonna call...Quad Busters!!!

The quad issue needs to be taken care of ASAP. I felt rather "tatored" after my 13 miler on Thursday so I took some easy days of running and figured all would be good. Looking back, I didn't eat too many carbs the last couple of days. I can't get past the possibility that it is my new shoes. I got a new pair of the latest DS Trainers (asics), and I noticed the mid sole is of new material. The question is, is it more dense of a mid sole, thus the sore quads? I really hope it is a nutrition thing as that is an easy fix.
My run today had the purpose of reintroducing my legs to the long run. It has been mid March since I did a run over 13 miles. I have this loop (Pig's-Vermilion) that is moderate hilly, and offers some flats for striding out that I do quite often. Today I did that loop 3 1/2 times to get my long run. This allowed me to get plenty of fluids and gels. Quite amazing, I ran at 8:30 am and the temp was already 70F+, and on my last lap the bank thermometer said 84F! This was actually a nice test of my fluid concoction. This was a good run except the quads being completely wasted after the first loop. Did I stop? Hell no! Had to get my long run in right? I stretched well and ate a really good meal immediately after and will continue to eat all day!
Totals: 1:58:26 17.5 miles

Saturday Trail Run

Today was a designated easy trail run. I figured the trails would be mostly dry with the weather we have been experiencing. I did a loop through Rock Hill and over to Hartley via the SHT. The guardrail loop was quite dry and offered plenty of ups and downs. My legs are still a bit heavy from the medium distance run I did on Thursday but all should be OK for tomorrow's run. I had a chance to catch the end of the UMD 5k on the Rock Hill trails. A beautiful day for running in Duluth.
Totals: trail run 1:04:28 approx 8 miles.

p.s. anybody know how to change the date on posts so your post from the previous day doesn't end up on the present day?

Father and Son (Friday's Entry)

No work for me today. It was a nice day to spend with my 2 1/2 year old son. We went to one of the local parks (Chester Bowl) and played most of the morning. We took the bike and bike trailer for the maiden ride of the year. My son finally has an appreciation for speed while sitting in the trailer. Yee Haw!! After playing we went for a ride and had to do some power hill climbs.
Once mom got home from work we all went for a nice run up to the cemetery and vermilion, added a loop to Jean Duluth and finished at the house. A good day for a recovery day.
Totals: 45 min Bike ride, 39:30 run with Kari and Lucas.

This is a test, this is a test of the marathon training system...

Today I figured I needed to "test the waters" and evaluate my "system status". I headed out for one of my medium distance run courses and half expected to make it short somewhere along the route. It was a beautiful day for a run, 48 F, and little wind. I took along my water bottle, which contains a mix of Gu2O with added salt. As I made my way up Woodland Ave. hill I felt pretty strong and had to hold back, not to push too soon. I have a few points in the route, as most of us do, to check my time and monitor compared to previous runs. One problem, it has been Sept. since I ran this course and cannot remember the splits! There is a section along Riley Rd. where I have been told it is a measured mile and today I ran a 6:21. This is about a hour into the run. It is here where I usually pick up the pace to 6:15 or 6:20.??? So, I picked up the pace from here and ran the last 1/2 hour at about 6:00 pace. My quads were a bit sore, but all else was functioning just fine. I always save a bit of drink for this last section as it trains me to drink at the quicker paces heading into the marathon. It is training runs like these that keep us crazy marathoners chasing the dream... and I'm chasing like a mutha!
Totals: 1:26:50 *new course pr, 13+ miles.

One More Trip Around the Sun

Today marks my 37th trip around the sun. This has been a pretty good revolution, as far as revolutions go. I am hoping to make this one even better from a running standpoint. I did mention in earlier posts that I am looking for a new marathon PR this year at Grandma's Marathon. After that spill I took in March things weren't looking too good, but today shows me that cross training has a purpose. In past years I wasn't a big fan of cross training. I just took time off from running if I was injured. Just shows...you are never too old to learn!
(see link below for an explanation of earth/sun revolutions)

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html

A Morning for the Pool.

I woke up with a bit more soreness than the past couple of mornings and decided to go to the pool for the morning workout instead of running. I kind of miss the pool actually. Being a novice at pool workouts, I get an unbelievable workout without the pounding on the roads. As usual, the first 20 minutes were tough to get through then I started to work into the session. I did a ladder workout consisting of 5,4,3,2,1,1,2,3,4,5 minutes on with 1 minute rest between intervals. The last ten minutes I used the kick board and actually swam 50 meters freestyle with proper breathing technique attempted.(this is totally new to me.) A good morning workout.

Later in the afternoon, Kari and I went out for a run up to the cemetery and took Vermilion home via St. Marie street. This was a good run to get in for both of us, as we need to keep our running connection!
Totals: am: 57:45 pool workout pm: 32:30 run approx. 4.5 miles.

Gotta Love Skyline!!!

I got out for my run nice and early this morning and headed west on skyline blvd. If you haven't had a chance to run on this route, next time you are in Duluth you need to ask a local how to get to skyline and go for an out and back run. Today's run went well. I felt little discomfort in the foot but remain very stiff in the lower legs.(calves, achilles, ankles) After ten minutes all felt well and I had a pretty good clip going. I ran to 10 ave. west and back. In the early months of the year when the roads were still clear of ice and snow I did this run in 58-59 min's. When I got to the turn around at 27:40 I knew I was running well. I tried to ease off and run easy, as I want to run easy this whole week, I returned home in 26:58. Also, on my return trip, I witnessed a beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior. What a site! Off to work, this is my "friday", as I took the rest of the week off.
Totals: 54:38 8+ miles.

Is That a Skunk?

The one factor I dislike about spring running, especially in the morning, is the unfortunate encounter with the black and white cat-like animals. I actually had to hurdle one a few years ago as it was digging through someones garbage on the curb. This morning I was having better luck as I didn't cross paths with any skunks, just lots of garbage on the curbs.
When I got done with my run this morning I realized it had gone better than it felt. I still have some minor discomfort in my left foot and still don't have complete range of motion, and as a result my form just doesn't feel right. I did the short Woodland to Vermilion loop with some pick-ups just to test my stride. I am hoping this was a run in the right direction.
Total: 46:06 approx. 6.5 miles.

Weekly Review

Not the week I was looking forward to. I did a measly 14.5 miles of running, and many, many trips to the bathroom (probably good for my first 100 mile week). Like I said in my prior post, looking forward to the sun, and lots of good miles!

Skinny, White Runner-legs!

Today was the first day that I ran an outside workout in shorts. I am not sure Duluth was ready for it, but I shed the legs for my loop.
I've had quite the crappy week, so I was quite pleased to see the sun and the mercury get near 65 F just prior to my run. I wasn't sure how my stomach would cope with the jumbling of each step but I managed to get within a mile of our house before I had the urge to shard my shorts. YUK!
I did the loop out to Martin road but had to alter the last mile, as I mentioned above, and all went quite well. The foot felt better and hopefully this will be an up, up, up week. I need it!!
Totals: 50:47 approx 7 miles.

More Bad Luck...

I've had some form of the FLU that a few people at work had. No running since Tuesday, unless you can count mileage of running to the bathroom. I am too lazy to figure that distance out so I will just call it "O's" for those days.

Today is the Fitgers 5K. This was going to be my kickoff race of the season, as many people use this for a test to see where their winter/spring training has gotten them. I for one will not be racing, and may not race well into May. If I do get fortunate enough to start marathon training again, I may just build up the mileage and see if I can get to the starting line of Grandma's. Right now it is looking quite grim.

For today, I guess I will fall back on my other hobbies and go attempt to take some action shots at the race, and maybe attempt to get a few posted on one of the result sites.

A Better Day

This run started like many of the others...with a lot of dull pain until approximately ten minutes into the run. I decided to keep progressing with the run and had a decent overall pace at the finish. I don't have the course marked per say, but it is a solid 7 1/2 miler. Legs felt good and fresh, the left ankle not so.
A bad day running is better than a good day on the couch.
Total: 53:37 approx. 7.5 miles

I lost my Chi

Today was one of those days...in the early morning all I wanted to do is drink a good cup of French Roast and sit around. I figured I would run after work with Kari and Lucas. Neither of us felt very good after work, some form of a 'bug', either from Lucas or from work. At any rate no workout today. My ankle feels good and hopefully I will get a good run in tomorrow. It kind of makes me feel guilty because those poor runners out at the Boston Marathon today.
Total: 0 miles "the goose-egg"

Weeks Reflection

It has been 4 weeks since I hit that patch of ice and ruined my training plan for Grandma's. I have managed to keep in shape by running as much as my ankle will allow, and spending some time in the pool. The past two weeks I have done much of the same. Over this past weekend I have seen considerable improvement in my ankle.

Total for the Week: 40 miles running, 1:40:00 aqua jogging.

Spring has Sprung, the Flowers Risen...

Today felt like the first day of real spring to me. I guess we had a day like this a month or so back, but of course I was working that day. This past weekend was a good mood lifter. Mid to upper 50's, sunny, and minimal wind made the weekend a good one for running.

I managed to have a decent day of training. I did a morning workout in two parts. First, I had the chance to run with my bud Kooks, who I haven't had the chance to run with in ages. I call him the K-factor. We all need a little K-factor in our running week. We did an easy loop through the cemetery, added an out and back section and finished at the house.

Kari needed to run this morning as well, and I decided it would be nice to run with her and hoping that our son would like to go as well. We loaded him up on the baby jogger and headed out for a loop through campus, west on skyline, and up Kenwood to Arrowhead and home. We added a loop near Hartley trails just to take a peek. The trails here in the Northland have many weeks to go until I will be setting tracks on them.

Totals: run with Kooks 41:30, run with Kari and Lucas 38:44
total for the day: approx. 11 miles.

Congrats Shalane!!!

Last night the U.S. women's 5000 meter record fell! The drug cheat finally doesn't own the record. Shalane Flanagan clipped the record by a second or so. She ran 14:44.8, which you can view in it's entirety on Flocast. The manner in which she broke the record is quite impressive. All I will say, in case you want to watch the video, she had a rabbit for 1800 meters and the rest was on her own. Congrats again!

Myself, I did another easy jogging session through the cemetery, and added a loop on the west side of campus and finished at the house. I wanted to loop close to the house in case I needed to bail-out of the run. The run went well as my foot actually felt the best it has since the injury. I am not getting too excited yet, I don't want to be let down if the ankle is not ready to resume full training. I am hoping it is soon!

Total: 43:03, 6 miles. Temps in the low 50's at 9:00 am.

No Black Cats

I'm not a superstitious person, but the day always enters my minds when it arrives on the calender. This mornings moon was just a sliver, not full, so I had a feeling all would be well.

I started the day with an easy loop through the cemetery and back to the house. I noticed my ankle being sore, but not as bad as prior runs. At any rate a good morning run. 29:54

After work, since the temps were in the 50's, I thought I would test the ankle again and do another short run. The run was better than the mornings as far as discomfort goes. Did the same loop but added some. Another good run, a step in the right direction if you will. 35:11.

Totals: AM: 29:54 approx. 4+ miles, PM 35:11 approx 4.5 miles Total: 8.5 miles

Back to the Water

I had a tough couple of days as far as the ankle goes, so I decided to do a pool workout this morning. The ankle was sore from some of the new exercises.

I was pressed for time this morning so I did 30 minutes of aqua-jogging followed by 11:00 of board-kicking. The later is quite the workout for cardio. and leg strength. A bit of a short workout, but better than a "0" for the day.

Total: 41:00 of pool workout.

This Sucka is Healing SLOW!

Initially this run started off amazing! The Laser treatments actually work!! Instead of the warm up period, my ankle felt pretty good right from the front steps. As the run went on, I could start to feel some discomfort settling in. I'd say the last 20 minutes I had enough discomfort to be done with the run, but as you know, often you are on a loop course and have no choice but to run home.

I utilized the occ. medicine's athletic trainers at work today and got some much needed attention. Had a cold ice bath for the ankle and received some additional exercises to work on during the rehab phase.

Totals for the day: loop run on skyline and Vermilion; total: 54:08 approx. 7.5 miles

Half Moon

I ran this morning under a half moon, or so, and ending with a beautiful sunrise. As far as the ankle goes, it was sore most of the run. Not as bad as Sunday, but definitely noticeable.

Did the loop up to martin road and vermilion home. Cool morning, about 25 degrees and no wind to mention.

I went to the chiropractor today after work and had the usual adjustment and they also did laser treatments on my ankle. (Low Level Light laser treatments.)

Total: 55:30 approx. 7.5 miles.

I Learned a Lesson

As I mentioned yesterday, I forgot to continue the rehab on Saturday and paid the price on Sunday's run. I managed to get in a couple sessions of icing and stretching yesterday and woke up feeling much better. Even though I was feeling better I decided to go to the pool for a morning workout.

Got to the pool and wasn't sure how I would feel. Did the usual warm up and decided to do a ladder of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes and then a series of 1 minute on with 30 seconds rest. I did this for 48 minutes and then a 2 minute cool down. A good day of cross training. I was going to run for 5 miles after work but decided against it, as my right thigh was a bit torn up from yesterdays run. I believe I was compensating on the right for the sore left ankle.

Totals: 1:01:00 aqua-jog workout.

Weeks Totals

Not too bad of a week for warming back up to the Marathon plan.

Totals: approx. 40 miles running, 2 hrs 40 min's of aqua-jogging.

Rough Day on the Roads

Today was the first day I have ran outside since March 20th. Yesterday's workout on the treadmill left me very confident that things were heading in the right direction. I forgot one thing... I forgot to keep on rehabbing. I didn't ice or stretch all day. Poor decisions cost you.

I ran through campus and searched for roads that were not too busy, and had open pavement. I am very hesitant to run on any uneven surface. I was planning on my ankle feeling better after 5 minutes or so. Today the ankle was sore the entire run! I did an easy paced loop with some added hills. Very frustrated, I ended back at our house at 85 minutes. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Total: Medium distance: 1:25:17, 12 miles

Today I felt like "cruising"

For some reason or another, old man winter paid us a visit this past week and we are still feeling the effects. Still too much ice on the roads, and the windchill is more than I wanted to tackle.

I spent most of the morning looking at Jack Daniels and Pete Fitzengers training plans trying to figure out how I would jump back on the marathon training bus. Jack can get pretty technical, but that is his strength. His book can give a person a sense of where they are in training and how to adapt to your current fitness level. After flipping pages after pages I decided to just get a run in.

My only option at that point was our Pacemaster treadmill. I decided to do a little up tempo running after the warm up. The pace wasn't quick enough for true lactate threshold (LT) but I believe fast enough for "cruise intervals". I did a 2 mile warm up, followed by 6 or 7 (lost count) repeats of 3:00 on and 1:00 rest. This took me to 5.5 miles and I followed that up with a 1.5 mile cool down. It felt really good to run the quicker tempo. I ran them at 6:00 mile pace and the last two were at 5:52 mile pace. This was the workout I was looking for, as it allowed me to evaluate my ankle for next weeks plan.

Total: 7 miles 47:01, with cruise intervals.

It is April, Right??

What's with this weather? I got up this morning to go to UMD and the windchill was -10F.

I had a chance to watch the UND/BC hockey game last night, along with a sauna (204 F) and some Molson's. I hydrated well before I went to bed and during the night in anticipation of having some type of workout this morning.

Went to UMD and decided to aqua jog for an hour. The ankle was a bit sore just walking so I think I made the right decision. As far as the workout went, I wasn't "into" aqua jogging for the first 20 min's. I did my usual 10 minute warm up and then intervals. The length of the intervals varied because I couldn't push hard enough on the longer intervals. I did several 1 min on/ 30 sec off, along with 3 min on/ 1 min off for 50:00. As the workout progressed, I felt much better.

I think my ankle will be able to log some miles this weekend. There is now 10 weeks left until Grandma's Marathon. I plan on using Pete's 12 week plan and modifying it.

Totals: 1:00:00 aqua jog with intervals HR 120's-130's.

Treadmill

Two days in a row of running more than 1/2 hour. My original plan was to run for 30:00, then go to the pool for and hour of aqua jog. It's April and the wind chill outside was -5 F. I didn't feel like going outside, so I just continued to run. The ankle needed about 3-4 min's to warm up and then all systems go. Most of the run was at 6:50 mile pace. A good run, and the ankle is feeling pretty good after two consecutive days of stress. Maybe a pool workout in the am???
Total Run: 1:03:15, 9 miles.

Test Time

I figured today was the day to really test my ankle to see if it is time to start logging some longer runs on this rehab trail. I had my doubts, as the first 4-5 min's. were far from comfortable. At first it didn't seem like my ankle had made much progress, but once it warmed up I was good to go. The first 2 miles were 8:00 and 7:30 pace. The rest was 7:00 pace and the 5th mile was a 6:40. Not a lot to say, but boy is it nice to run without a hitch. I just may make it for Grandma's, provided there are no more set backs. 11 weeks to go....
Total Run: 51:00, 7 miles.

Go Away Snow!!

I woke up ready to run my 30:00 prior to going to the pool and realized it was snowing! Not good, as I didn't plan on making the same mistake of slipping on some ice and torquing the other ankle. Snow really sucks this time of year. Snow = Work, and nothing more.

I got to the UMD pool ready to tackle another aqua-jog workout. Much of the same, warm up for 10 min's and intervals for 45 min's with a 5 min warm down. I wore my hear rate monitor in the pool and realized how much work you actually have to do to get the heart rate up. Anyway, a good workout and plans were made to run after work. Big mistake. I forgot about the work after work. The snow removal was an hours worth of fun. Tomorrow I will run, most likely on the treadmill.
Today's total: 1:00:00 aqua-jog in pool. HR during intervals 133-143 bpm.

"Movin' on Up"

This weeks goal is to push the red-line a bit from a rehab perspective. I am going to try to run everyday as well as some other cross-training if possible. I believe I need to attempt to get back to my regular running schedule if running a decent marathon is still in the works. I didn't mention in previous entries that this spring my training is focused on running Grandma's Marathon in a new personal best.

Just a bit of history...in fall of 2005, I was coming back from some serious time off of consistent training, and I came up with a 3 year plan to run a marathon under 2:30:00. I ran the 2006 G-mas in a personal best under historical conditions, aka "Black flag" day. I will run G-mas this year, then in 2008, I will run G-mas in June and a fall marathon, likely Chicago. For the rest of this spring, I want to get back to 75-85 miles a week as soon as possible. I usually follow some type of adjusted Pete Fitzenger training plan.

Today's workouts went quite well. I started off by going to the pool at 0600 for the morning aqua-jog workout. I did 41:00 total with 10 min. wup and close to 30:00 of intervals of 3:00 on and 1:00 off. I am getting pretty good at getting my heart rate up in the water.

After work, my wife, son, and I went for a run. I enjoy doing these runs, as it allows all of us to be outside at the same time doing the things we love to do! We ran through campus, to Chester Bowl, did a small loop and back to the house. The ankle felt ok, still a bit tender, but no true pain. I am quite pleased with this being 2 weeks since the injury. 32:00 run after work.
Days Total: 41:00 pool and 32:00 easy run.

Cardio Only

I decided to go to the CPF for a cross-training workout today. Upon arrival, there was a sign that said the weight room was closed for remodeling. I guess they are putting new rubberized flooring down and it will be completed by tomorrow. Not that deterred me in any way, but I figured the cardio machines would be busy.

Today marks the first day of using an elliptical trainer. It took me a few minutes to get the settings adjusted to allow me enough resistance and the proper incline. I had planned on 30 min's of elliptical and 30 min's of bike, but I stayed on the elliptical the whole time. HR's 145-155 bpm at a workload of estimated 12.5-13.0 METS. I was pleased with this workout, as it is very close to workloads of a typical run. Back to the pool tomorrow a.m., along with some light treadmill running.